Strange Legacy
by Lacrimula Falsa
Summary: Some families have heirlooms. Some families have legacies. The LaForge family has a pale man with yellow eyes and a cruel smile. A post-canon story.
1. First Awakening -Part One

**Strange Legacy  
** _by Lacrimula Falsa_

 _ **Disclaimer:**_ All praise the Great Bird of the Galaxy. I do not own any part of the StarTrek franchise/universe. Reviews are my profit.

 _Summary:_ Some families have heirlooms. Some families have legacies. The LaForge family has a pale man with yellow eyes and a cruel smile. A post-canon story.

 _A/N:_ For _**acmac**_ , _DataLore1_ on AO3 and for _**Masked_Man_2**_ , because without her my muse would die of neglect.

* * *

 **First Awakening - Part One**

 _[Lore]_

When Lore wakes up after _years_ \- and he could know the exact time, right down to the milliseconds, but he is angry enough without checking his internal chronometer - he is strapped down to something.

He almost expected to wake up without a body attached to his head again.

But he is in one piece this time.

He methodically takes in the room and tests his restraints.

It's a laboratory of some sort, all white walls and sterile metal surfaces. It looks unused, like someone has only reactivated it recently.

Much like him.

The restraints around his wrists and ankles he could break, he notes, but the metal covering wrapped around his torso contains a high energy circuit. He'd electrocute himself if he broke it. Overload his neural net.

 _Crafty humans._

Lore's musings are interrupted by the door of the lab sliding open.

A human man walks in and Lore recognises him immediately, regardless of the obvious signs of age and the fact that the contraption over his eyes is missing.

"LaForge."

His voice synthesiser is damaged, he realises, and his self-diagnosis system is either damaged or offline.

"Hello Lore."

When the human speaks, it's a shock. LaForge is not just _aged_. He's old. His body looks healthy, but his voice sounds frail.

His shock obviously shows on his face, because LaForge laughs self-deprecatingly as he sits on a stool in front of him.

"We aren't all ageless machines, Lore. Humans grow old. I thought you'd know that."

"Why did you reactivate me?"

It's the only question he can ask, the only one that makes sense.

He refuses to voice the others.

 _Where am I?_

 _Why am I not dead?_

 _What happened?_

 _Where's Data?_

"Not for you, that's for sure."

"For what then? Running experiments on me? Dissecting my brain? For what, human?"

"For Data."

Something sharp twists in Lore's stomach, like a metal shard slicing trough his innards.

 _Where's Data?_

"Well, I don't see my dear brother anywhere. Shouldn't he be here, if you're doing this for him?"

"Data's dead."

Lore would deny it for years to come, expect for the small moments between waking and unconsciousness when he was truly honest with himself, but this was the moment his world tilted on it's axis and than shattered into tiny pieces.

"No."

He blames the broken rasp of a word on the defect voice synthesiser.

 _Androids don't_ die.

"He was blown up along with a starship in the Battle of the Bassen Rift."

LaForge's voice is dispassionate, like he's talking about the way a tricorder works. Then the human hesitates and there's a tense moment where the only sound is the humming of the high energy circuit.

"He sacrificed himself to save everyone else. Just like the hero he was."

 _He sacrificed himself. For humans._

Lore doesn't know if the wave of anger he feels is directed at the humans or at his brother.

But it abates as fast as it has come, leaving a strange, cold feeling in it's wake, like his chest is filled with ice.

 _Where? When? Why? Whom were you_ fighting _? The Federation is_ peaceful _, why where you_ at war _?_

He doesn't ask any of those questions. Instead he says

"I guess I'm the only one again."

because it's the only thing that matters.

For a moment there's a look of…sympathy, almost, on LaForge's face and -shockingly enough- grief, before he says, calmly.

"Yes, you are."

"Did you - _re_ -activate - me-to tell-me this."

Lore's voice sounds even more broken now, his voice synthesiser giving up. His speech is halting, slow and the inflection is wrong.

"I'll fix that. Give me a moment."

Lore wants to protest, but LaForge holds a small tool next to his throat and with a quiet hum he's mute.

And then the human pries open his throat and rummages inside his body and he wants to rip his arm free and tear that weak organic creature to shreds.

But he does not, because he has to _know_.

When he is able to speak again, LaForge answers his query.

"No, I didn't reactivate you to tell you this."

"Then why…"

"I told you. For Data."

The human holds up a hand to ward off any further questions.

"Because your brother, believe it or not, wanted to give you a second chance. God knows why."

"A second chance."

His brother that beamed him into space. That dismantled him to rot in storage somewhere.  
His brother that sacrificed himself for the humans. For weak organic creatures that will be dead in less then a century.

The sharp thing in his gut twists again.

"Yes. Data…He was… After he got emotions, he thought it wasn't right. Deactivating you. He thought that he could…fix you. Make you…normal. Give you a conscience, maybe, I don't know. He said that he'd try to repair your ethical programming. He never got the chance."

"After he got emotions."

LaForge looks surprised, then understanding.

"Yes. He reclaimed the emotion chip you stole and used it."

"He used it."

 _He didn't destroy it._

"He wanted to destroy it at first."

"Why didn't he?"

He doesn't know why he is asking these things. It doesn't matter, its not what he needs to know. Nothing that will help him escape. But…

"I didn't let him."

Why?

 _Why would you want him to feel? What did it matter to you?_

"Why did you reactivate me?"

"It was in his will."

"What."

"His will. He wrote a testament. All his friends got a personal item and a letter. In mine he asked me to fix you."

 _He asked me to fix you._

"Why?"

And then LaForge laughs again, brittle and quiet.

"Fuck me if I know."

Lore almost rolls his eyes.

"Not why _he_ did it." And he can't say that name that belonged to a face just like his own. "Why _you_ are doing it. This."

And suddenly LaForge's face is up in his, angry and determined.

"Listen _robot_. I don't care for you. I'd have been happy to leave you in a storage box to rot, to see you taken apart for spare parts or have a scientist dig around inside your brain. For me you're worth less than a box of scrap. But _Data,_ who was my best friend, asked me to fix his lunatic of a backstabbing brother."

The human draws back and his face is calm again, quietly decisive.

"So whether I like it or not…that's what I'm going to do. For Data."

Abruptly LaForge stands up and walks over to a shelf to pick up a tool that vaguely resembles a tricorder, only smaller and blue.

"But if you hurt anyone, you're toast."

It takes a moment -longer than it should- for Lore to understand what the human means. That the old, frail _human_ is threatening him.

He almost laughs.

"You can't hurt me."

LaForge walks back over to him with an almost…amused expression.

"You know…Data said that too. That androids can feel no pain. That you don't hurt."

The amusement leaves the human's face completely and he suddenly looks grave and almost…annoyed.

"It's bullshit."

Suddenly Lore feels all his limbs seize up. Then everything goes black.

* * *

 _A/N:_ The next chapter will be Geordi's POV. Any thoughts so far?


	2. Interlude - Reactivation Initiated

**Interlude - Reactivation Initiated**

 _[Geordi]_

It was a routine, by now.

Get up, shut off the alarm, shower, dress, eat breakfast, brush teeth, water the flowers. Maybe take a look at the mail.

Geordi still remembered visiting Earth that one time for the Final Reunion, that moment when he had told Captain… _Jean-Luc_ about his morning routine, his old captain saying, with a twinkle in his eye "Congratulations, Mister LaForge. You have officially become an old man."

And he really was old now, old enough to be a father of three and widowed, whiling away his days reading, planting flowers and generally doing not-very-exciting things.

So he blamed his age for the long moments he spent staring at a small screen, wondering how there was a data feed coming in from his lab, when that lab had been inactive for eleven years.

He sat down the watering can and pulled up a chair, scrolling up to the beginning of the mysterious feed. When he was about halfway through skimming over the curiously familiar assortment of numbers and specifications, something caught his eye.

 _ **Energy flow at optimum levels.  
Reactivation of neural pathways initiated.**_

He read it. And read it again. It was such an innocuous thing, such a small thing, just five words.

 _Reactivation of neural pathways initiated._

Feeling like something was clawing its way up from his guts to his throat, Geordi scrolled up again, reading carefully this time.

And there it was.

 _ **Input accepted. Primary programming overwrite successful.**_

Clutching the edge of the console like it was a life-line, Geordi touched a small panel in the corner of the screen. The camera-and-sensors box he'd installed in his lab was apparently still working, because the image changed immediately.

That was the moment when what he had been trying to deny, just moments before, became unshakable reality.

Lore was awake. 

Watching the android test his restraints, Geordi swallowed the bile rising in his throat and forced down the convoluted mess of harsh, bitter old feelings welling up.

 _Deal with your unresolved issues later, LaForge. You have a job to do._

Slowly, reluctantly, he stood up and shut off the screen. Then he made his way towards the lab.

Just before he shut the door to the garden, he said, more to himself than to his dead best friend and very quietly

"Damnit, Data."

* * *

 _A/N:_ Not the 'real' next chapter, but this update has taken long enough as is, so here's a small interlude to tide you over. Thank you for reading!


	3. Chapter One - Hello Dea

**Chapter One - Hello Dea**

* * *

 _"You encouraged my brother to be an individual, but you would deny me my own individuality."_

 _"You're_ not _Data!"_

 _"No, and I never will be. It seems to me that you find that fact harder to accept than I initially thought. That is one of the reasons why I wish to leave."_

 _"But you can't just…go away and disappear somewhere at the edge of Federation space."_

 _"Geordi, I_ will _leave. I am under no obligation to remain here. I have the documents to proof that I am neither property nor a Federation citizen. I make my own choices, and I have no wish to remain somewhere where I am only ever seen as the successor of my brothers despite peoples best intentions. I am not a child and I am not stupid. I know that you are still hoping to extract Data's memories from my brain in hopes of one day rebuilding him. But I do not think that, if I were human, you would ask me to undergo major brain surgery in order to raise the dead. Data is gone, and you will not bring him back. I refuse to be the focus of your obsession. Also, I will not remain anywhere close to, never mind_ in _Federation space."_

 _"That's not individuality, that's just stupid! What do you want to do, find some rogue Borg and try to destroy humanity like Lore did?"_

 _"That - is exactly what I meant. I am not Data. That does not make me_ Lore _either. Every human is different, but all androids are the same? I thought you knew better than that."_

 _"I_ do _, but I just…"_

 _"I have no desire to hear all your arguments again. I would rather remember you as my friend, than as another obstacle in my path. Goodbye Geordi."_

* * *

 _[Deanna]_

"Lieutenant Gadges to Deanna Troi."

Deanna looked up from her book and touched her commbadge.

"Troi here."

"Ambassador, we were just contacted by the starbase. Apparently someone on the base wants to visit you, but is not allowed access to the ship without a lengthy procedure due to not being a Federation citizen. He left a message with the comm officer asking you to meet him in the Arkaya Lounge on the base's communal level in two hours and twenty minutes."

Deanna felt her eyebrows rise. She couldn't think of more than two non-Federation-citizens she knew off the top of her head, and both were unlikely candidates for a visit.

"Ambassador?"

"Oh sorry. Did he leave a name?"

"No, he only left a way of contact. A comm channel registered for the freighter _Canarga_. Should I alert station security, or maybe you want a protection detail?"

"No, no. I'm sure that wont be necessary. It's probably someone I know. Maybe they want to surprise me. Please let him know that I'll meet him."

She felt slightly less secure about that than she let on, but she wasn't about to drag security officers with her like some celebrity admiral. The Lounge was on the communal level of the base after all, where there were plenty of people around. She wouldn't be meeting some unknown person in a dark alleyway.

"I'll do that. Are you sure that I shouldn't at least…"

"No thank you. I'm sure it will be fine."

"If you're sure. Have a nice day ambassador. Gadges out."

Sighing, Deanna leaned back in her seat. So much for a quiet day spent with her husband.

"Will?"

Will stuck his head out of the bathroom.

"Light of my life?"

She lobbed a pillow at his head. He caught it, and she took a moment to admire both his reflexes and his shirtless upper body before saying

"I have a visitor. On the base."

Will's eyebrows jumped up his forehead.

"And they can't come here because?"

"Apparently he's not a Federation citizen and therefore it would be quite the hassle to get access to the ship. He asked me to meet him in…two hours and fifteen minutes now."

Her husband frowned unhappily.

"Deanna, are you sure that's a good idea, meeting him alone?"

"I didn't say I'd meet him alone."

Will crossed the room, shooting her a somewhat pitying look.

"Imzadi, you refused to get a bodyguard assigned to you after someone almost shot you. You can't tell me you'll take a security detail with you just to meet someone you most likely know."

She sighed. "You caught me. But really, it's not exactly a dangerous meeting. We'll be in the Arkaya Lounge on the communal deck, with plenty of people and station security all around. Also, I'm still an empath, remember?"

Will sighed, looking (and feeling) uneasy but resigned.

"If being married to you has taught me one thing, it's that once a Troi gets something inside her head, no one can convince her otherwise."

Deanna smiled.

"There are no male Trois?"

"None that I've met."

"You've met my cousin."

"I'm still not convinced that Atarin is male."

They both looked at each other for a moment before bursting into laughter.

After they'd calmed down, Will caught his wife's hand in his.

"I'll be honest Imzadi. I don't like the idea of you meeting someone alone. But I know you'll do it anyway. So why don't we compromise? You'll meet him, and I'll join you after twenty minutes."

She raised a brow, but couldn't really find anything to say against that plan. She wasn't an overly fearful person, but recent years had taught her some things about caution.

"All right. But please make it look incidental. I don't want him to feel like I don't trust him, especially if it really is someone I know."

Will pecked her on the lips.

"Of course. I'm the master of being inconspicuous."

"Uh-huh. The master has a date if I remember correctly."

"A date?...Oh damn! All right, I have to run. I love you and I'll see you later."

He was halfway out the door when she called out.

"Will!"

He turned around, nearly hitting the side of the door.

"Yes?"

"No shirt, admiral."

"Whoops."

* * *

About two hours later, Deanna looked out over the communal level of Montgomery Station, the blue-pink sign of the Arkaya Lounge catching her eye.

In retrospect, she should have sent a message asking where _exactly_ she was to meet this surprise visitor. The Lounge was the most popular bar/restaurant on the base and not exactly small.

Well, if someone wanted to meet her, they'd just have to find her.

Looking around, she saw at least three officers wearing security uniforms. She hated to admit it, but it was reassuring.

She found a seat near the Lounge's entrance, and ordered a non-alcoholic drink that looked nice. Then she waited.

She was just taking the first sip of her drink when someone gently put a hand on her shoulder.

"Hello Dea."

Almost choking on her drink, Deanna slammed her glass down and whirled around, just to be met with the sight of familiar yellow eyes looking at her in concern.

"I am sorry. I didn't want to startle you."

"B-4!"


	4. Chapter Two - Reunion

**Chapter Two - Reunion**

… _"Hello Dea."_

 _Almost choking on her drink, Deanna slammed her glass down and whirled around, just to be met with the sight of familiar yellow eyes looking at her in concern._

 _"I am sorry. I didn't want to startle you."_

 _"B-4!"_

* * *

"It is good to see you again."

For a moment, Deanna just stared, feeling oddly like she was dreaming. There was Data's older brother, looking just like she remembered him. Just like Data, except for the expression on his face.

"You…It's good to see you too. B-4 what…what are you _doing_ here?"

There was a strange expression on B-4's face for a moment, before he seemed to carefully straighten out his features.

"Is wishing to see you again not reason enough to be here?"

Sighing, Deanna stood up and took the android's hands in hers.

"I wish that it was, but too much has happened for me to believe that. Why don't we sit down?"

After they had taken their seats, the android took a PADD out of the bag he had been carrying and put it on the table, but made no move to use it for anything, folding his hands on the tabletop.

"Deanna, you know that I have always valued your counsel."

That was such a typical B-4 way of beginning an uncomfortable conversation that it made her want to both cringe in anticipation and laugh in startled amusement. In the end she settled on saying

"That was my impression, yes."

"Geordi has reactivated Lore."

The calm and matter-of-fact statement hit her like a bucket of cold water.

… _reactivated Lore…_

Deanna felt strangely numb, like her subconscious couldn't decide what she should be feeling.  
That was not a B-4 thing. That was an android thing. Jump right in headfirst even if it hurts.

After a stunned moment she said the first thing that came to mind.

"How do you know?"

"Do you remember that I wished to see Lore's body before I left?"

She nodded.

"I opened Lore's cranium and laid down a series of neural pathways in the outermost layer of his positronic net. A failsafe of sorts, something that would alert me should anyone try to tamper with him."

"You altered his brain?" The empath couldn't quite keep the shock out of her voice.

"Only the surface layer. It had been rendered useless by Data's phaser blast anyway."

Deanna took another mouthful of her drink, trying to ease the feeling of her throat constricting. She still wasn't used to it, seeing a face just like Data's looking at her and hearing words like that come out of that familiar mouth, both their meaning and cadence completely foreign. B-4's continued absence from her life had only exaggerated the feeling, she realised.

There was a pause where they both just looked at each other, before B-4 said

"I wished to speak with you before I made my way to Rigel III."

"Why?"

If he was surprised by her sharp tone, it didn't show. Instead the android looked…defeated.

"Because I do not know what to do."

"What to do…about what? About Lore?" Suddenly a though occurred to her. "Have you talked with Geordi yet?"

"No."

Deanna couldn't quite help the disapproving look she shot him. It didn't escape his notice.

"Deanna. I _am_ aware that in situations like this communication is key, as you once so aptly phrased it. However, I am also aware that the last time we spoke, relations between me and Geordi were…strained."

"Yes, but you cant just beat down his door and…demand your brother. That's not going to work."

B-4 shook his head.

"I am not going to _demand_ anything. At the moment, my only wish is to ascertain that Lore is no threat to himself or others, and that Geordi is not… _'in over his head'_."

Her brain was apparently still busy catching up with everything, because it took almost a full minute of silence before part of the android's sentence registered with the counsellor.

"What do you mean _'a threat to himself'_?"

"Whatever Lore has done, he _is_ my only remaining family. I simply wish to ascertain that his…unpredictable behaviour will not endanger his life - again."

"Again?"

Before B-4 could answer, there was the sound of something hitting the ground, and a very familiar voice saying

" _B-4!?_ "

Turning in her seat, Deanna saw that the sound had come from the glass her husband had apparently dropped in his shock.

"Good evening Admiral Riker."

"It's…still… _Will_ if you don't mind."

B-4 smiled. "Of course. Please sit down."

Will did, still looking like he'd seen a ghost. Deanna turned to her husband.

"Will, B-4 is here because…"

"Geordi reactivated Lore."

Will's jaw all but fell of it's hinges. Deanna frowned at B-4.

"I am sorry Deanna, but I know your penchant for breaking the news gently and time is rather of the essence."

Will all but fell over with his chair, still staring at B-4.

"He - did what?"

"Geordi has reacti…"

Will held up a hand. "I heard you. It's just…wow. I…wow. This is…really fucking unexpected."

"Judging by your use of an expletive, would I be correct in assuming that this is not what you would consider 'good news'?"

The admiral frowned at B-4.

"No offence B-4, but Lore isn't exactly a prime candidate for 'Federation Citizen Of The Year'."

The androids pale lips turned down into a somewhat sour expression that -to Deanna at least- looked very strange on his usually calm face.

"Lore is not presently a _prime candidate_ for anything. However, this does not affect my wish to help him."

"Help him with what? He's your brother, alright, I get it. But he killed people. He tried to destroy the Enterprise!"

A few patrons shot their table strange looks at Will's outburst. Deanna put a calming hand on his shoulder.

"Maybe it would be best to continue this somewhere with more privacy. B-4, would you come to our quarters on the Titan?"

She couldn't help noting that it happened with some reluctance, but ultimately both men followed her example and stood up, B-4 gathering his bag and PADD.

"Very well. Please lead the way."

* * *

 _A/N:_ An update, finally. I liked my first version of this chapter better, but it didn't fit with the story flow at all, so. Here's the second version that took forever. Heh. ... Anyway, thank you for reading, please leave a review.


	5. Chapter 3 – All The Humans In The Galaxy

**Chapter Three – All The Humans In The Galaxy**

A short while later they were all comfortably settled around the coffee table in the Troi-Riker quarters.

After getting a hot chocolate for herself and a glass of synthehol whiskey for Will, Deanna found herself wracking her brain for a way to restart the conversation they had had in the Lounge in a diplomatic manner.

It turned out she needn't have bothered.

"Alright B-4, I'll just come out and say it: I do _not_ think that it's possible to _help_ Lore. He clearly has a disturbed mind, that's not something you can fix by replacing a few microchips."

Deanna sensed a flash of anger from the android, but B-4's outward appearance stayed calm.

"And what, precisely, would you suggest I do instead?"

Will ran an agitated hand through his hair.

"Well I don't know! Deactivate him again!"

B-4 very slowly, very carefully laid down the PADD he had still been holding. Deanna unconsciously leaned away from the fury he was silently radiating.

"If Lore were an organic humanoid deemed dangerous, would you recommendation also be to place them in a coma for an unspecified amount of time?"

Judging from the way her husband opened and then closed his mouth without saying a word, that shot had hit home. B-4 raised a brow.

"I see. Not quite as comfortable a solution if presented in this light, is it?"

Will took a sip of his whiskey before putting down his glass and leaning back in his seat with a tired expression.

"I'll admit that what I just said was…wrong. But…you can't tell me that you think Lore is harmless."

"I do not. I am well aware of my brothers potential for destruction. However, I am also aware that he has not always been this way. What Lore needs is not ' _replacing a few microchips_ '. Even if there are malfunctions in his ethical programming, as Data suspected, and they are repaired, I believe he still would require therapy."

"Therapy." Will shot B-4 a _look_. "I'm sorry, but I really can't see _Lore_ hitting a therapist's every week. Not to mention that he'd probably try to kill them."

"It will only work if Lore cooperates. However, I am confident that he will. I do not plan to present him with many other options, and do not intend for any of the other ones to be…appealing."

Deanna frowned.

"Are you saying that you'll _make_ him cooperate? That does not sound very…productive, not to mention that coercing someone into therapy seldom produces positive results, in a setting like this."

The android folded his hands in his lap, staring at the coffee table like he was planning to take it apart through mental effort.

"Deanna, what you both apparently fail to understand is that I am not doing this for Lore. I am doing this for myself." He looked up with a determined expression in his yellow eyes. "I already lost two members of my family to… _fate_. I have no desire to loose the last one to his self-destructive behaviour _or_ his stubbornness. If Lore will not accept help by himself, I will force him to accept it."

Will frowned.

"You talk like you're completely alone. That's not true! You had friends… _have_ friends. You have friends on the Enterprise, on the Titan. I'm sure you still have a friend on Rigel III. _You_ decided to leave."

Now it was B-4's turn to shoot _Will_ a look.

"Do you know what a type three subprocessor malfunction feels like? How a damaged servo inhibits movement?"

Will shook his head.

"Of course not."

"Lore would know these things. In a way, he is the only sentient being that would truly understand me...on what you might call a visceral level. I am not blind to his faults, but he _is_ my brother. And unlike most humanoids, I do not have a whole species to choose from for companionship. You have all the humans in the galaxy Will. And I have Lore."

Deanna laid a hand on her friend's arm, trying to ease some of the sadness she was both sensing and feeling. Will wasn't quite unaffected by the android's confession either, shifting uncomfortably in his seat.

"This really means a lot to you."

"It does. You may only know Lore as a violent individual with no regard for organic life, but he has not always been that way. It may not be likely, but I am holding out hope that maybe there is a way to get the old Lore back."

"B-4, you talk about Lore like you know him. How could you know that he was a different person once?"

B-4 blinked, looking slightly confused.

"I was there."

Will, who had just been about to empty his glass, put his drink away from is mouth, looking as stunned as Deanna was feeling.

"What do you mean _you were there_?"

"On Omicron Theta, Lore and I were both active at the same time for eleven months, twenty-one days, thirteen hours, four minutes and forty-seven seconds."

* * *

 _A/N:_ I wrote this chapter while fighting a thoroughly annoying head cold, I hope it doesn't show...


	6. First Awakening -Part Two

**First Awakening -Part Two**

 _A/N:_ Hello Trek, I am back. Thank you for the lovely reviews, have more story:

* * *

 _[Lore]_

" _Lore, stay away from the water."_

" _Why?"_

" _You cannot swim."_

" _I can swim, I know how it works."_

" _Your weight will make you sink to the bottom of the lake. You cannot swim."_

" _But I want to."_

" _It is a sad fact, but wishing for something does not make it true."_

-x-

" _Get away from him!"_

" _Shut up, robot freak! You'd better run before we scrap you too."_

" _Lore, go home. Get father."_

" _But he hurt you. He hurt you."_

" _Lore, no!"_

" _Hey, what are you doing?! Let go of me! Let go, let go! Let…"_

* * *

"Lore."

LaForge is standing over him, blue tricorder-like tool in hand. Lore's self-defence subroutine is apparently not working correctly, because if it was the human would have a hole in his skull.

The restraints LaForge has constructed are far to feeble to protect him, and he's well inside hitting range.

What a stupid suicidal organic.

"Can you understand what I am saying."

Lore suppresses the urge to roll his eyes, staying stock-still.

LaForge does roll _his_ eyes.

"I know you're awake."

"If you want a conversation partner I suggest you look elsewhere."

"If it was up to me, you would not be talking ever again but since it isn't, I have to test your neural pathways. I can only do that if you're awake."

Lore very briefly contemplates killing the human as long as he can reach him, but then he would likely be stuck in the human's lab for all eternity, or at least until the building's energy support breaks down some decades down the line.

He also considers telling the human that technically it _is_ up to him, but then he really doesn't fancy being left to rot in storage. Again.

"I could test my neural pathways myself if _someone_ hadn't deactivated my self-diagnostic system."

LaForge looks up at him, confusion writ large on his features.

"I didn't deactivate your self-diagnostic system."

 _Well, shit._

That. Is not good.

LaForge frowns at him, considering.

"Lore, is your self-diagnostic system offline?"

Lore keeps his mouth shut. Talking has only gotten him into trouble so far.

The human sighs.

"Look. We can do this the hard way, or the easy way. I probably damaged a lot when I removed the Borg circuitry from your system. Hell if I know what you used that for. My point is, if one of your key components is suddenly offline it's not good and you're the one who'll suffer cascade failure if I bust this repair job, so."

"Your concern for me is touching, human."

"Lore just answer the damned question. Is your self-diagnostic system offline?"

Lore nods. He'll be damned if he talks to the stupid organic any more than necessary.

LaForge sighs again.

"Alright, I'll work on that next. I can't fix you if I don't even know what's broken."

"Why do you think that something is? I'm perfectly fine. That you organics are scared of me doesn't mean I'm broken. Or are you just angry that I'm not a naïve, exploitable human-lover like Data?"

To Lore's surprise the human doesn't even flinch. Instead, LaForge gives him a look that seems to say ' _nice try_ '.

"Data told me that on Terlina III, you said to Doctor Soong that he 'could have fixed you'. I might not think that you are broken, but apparently you do. And so did Data. To me you're just insane."

Before Lore can even begin to think of something to say, LaForge picks up the blue device again, and everything goes black.


End file.
